Droplets of water dancing over a hot skillet may be the chemical factories of the future.

On a hot surface, water droplets hover on a cushion of their own evaporation. The drops become superheated and negatively charged, which creates ideal conditions for making nanoproducts, researchers report October 29 in Nature Communications. The chemists exploited these drops to make products such as porous metal, heat-resistant foam and metal coatings.